Warriors won't face Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge

By Diamond Leung dleung@bayareanewsgroup.com

Posted:
03/15/2014 06:58:53 PM PDT

Updated:
03/15/2014 10:22:24 PM PDT

All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge is not expected to play for Portland when the Warriors visit on Sunday, allowing them to avoid facing the Trail Blazers' top scorer and rebounder due to a lower back contusion.

Warriors coach Mark Jackson noted Aldridge is Portland's go-to guy on the block and that former Warriors forward Dorell Wright getting the start in his place for a second straight game would give them a smaller lineup to face.

But after a 103-94 loss Friday against Cleveland at Oracle Arena that Golden State guard Stephen Curry said was "terrible," the Warriors having dropped two in a row are focused on themselves more so than the team one spot ahead of them in the Western Conference standings.

"There's more pressure on us to kind of just play the way we're supposed to play," Curry said. "It just happens that Portland's next on the schedule. We're going up there, and we need wins.

"This win's very important for us."

The Warriors might be 2½ games behind Portland for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, but they are actually closer to the dreaded No. 7 and No. 8 spots while sitting 1½ games ahead of Dallas and Memphis.

Portland knows what it is to be in freefall mode, having lost four straight games before going without Aldridge and winning at New Orleans on Friday.

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"We don't want to turn one bad loss into two bad losses," Jackson said. "We're playing against a talented, well-coached Portland team that's enjoying a very good year, but it's important for us to get back on track and make sure we stop the bleeding right away."

Andre Iguodala didn't play in the second quarter against the Cavaliers due to the team being mindful of his knee tendinitis before having him return in the second half.

Jackson said the tendinitis is a "little bit of a concern" and that he would stay in communication with Iguodala about it while monitoring the situation. After resting Igudoala late in the first quarter, Jackson didn't reinsert him into the game with the rest of the starters following a long stretch on the bench.

"It wouldn't have been fair to him, and it would have in my put him in some danger, so the concern is a situation like that," Jackson said.

Iguodala finished with 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting, with each attempt coming from 3-point range. He added three assists, two rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes.

"Jumpers get that a lot, so it's just something I battle through from as early as college," Iguodala said of the tendinitis. "You get variations of it. You know how to deal with it. You know how to play with it, and you try to be safe with it sometimes, but sometimes circumstances say you've just got to fight through it."

Iguodala has said he played at less than 100 percent this season after a left hamstring strain caused him to miss 12 games.

The Warriors are hopeful Klay Thompson will rejoin the team in time for the game at Portland, as Jackson said the guard's travel schedule from the Bahamas currently allows for him to arrive well before the game.

Thompson missed the Cleveland game while attending the funeral of his grandfather.

"One of the wisest men I ever met and full of the spirit of God," Thompson tweeted. "A true patriarch of the Thompson family. We will always love and miss u Grandpa T!"